Apparatus for forming wave windings for rotor and stator lamination packets of electrical machines

ABSTRACT

An apparatus in which wave windings with a defined number of waves are cut from a continuously formed wave winding band. In forming with a wire guide, the wave winding band is laid in alternation around the outer side faces of forming protrusions, offset from one another on the circumference of two disks. The two disks can be driven to rotate. In the angular range in which the wave winding band is driven on the circumference of the disks or roller, the spacing between one forming protrusion of one row and the next forming protrusion in the other row is increased by such an amount that the outer side faces of the forming protrusions form the winding heads of the wave windings. The wave windings cut from the wave winding band are introduced into radially outwardly open slots of a lamination packet or a rotorlike transfer tool.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENT

The present application claims priority to Germany Application No. 10328 955.0, filed on Jun. 27, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Fields

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming andintroducing wave windings, with straight portions joined by windingheads, into rotor or stator lamination packets of electrical machines.

2. The Related Art

For a fairly long time, for instance from European Patent Disclosures EP1 012 951 D1 and EP 0 604 792 A2 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,778, ithas been known to create wave windings, in particular distributed wavewindings for producing motor vehicle generators, using a winding nozzlerevolving around a template or a template revolving in front of a fixedwinding nozzle, and to draw the thus-formed annular wave windingsaxially into a stator.

In the attempt to attain an optimal filling factor of the stator slotswith as little copper as possible and at the same to attain windingheads that are small, well-ventilated and generate only relativelylittle running noise, stators with many radially inwardly open slots ofrectangular cross section have been created in accordance with EP 1 120881 A2, into which slots wave windings of rectangular coil wire areplaced in such a way that in the cross section of a slot the crosssections through the coil wire with a plurality of radial layers formone row extending along the slot and fill up the cross section of theslot. The difficulty in producing a stator of this kind is that thethick rectangular wire, whose width is equivalent to the slot width, canbe deformed only with difficulty in a conventional winding andpulling-in process, and normally the winding heads that protrude fromthe face end beyond the stator lamination packet, because there are somany coil windings that overlap on the circumference and because of thepoor deformability of the coil wire, add up to an excessively largeradial width, which is practically impossible to reduce usingconventional winding head forming tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the object of the invention to make a method and anapparatus available with the aid of which wave windings even made ofcomparatively thick winding wire can be produced and introduced intorotor or stator lamination packets in a simpler way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above object is attained in terms of the method proposed by theinvention in that the wave windings, each with a defined number ofwaves, are cut from a continuously formed wave winding band of windingwire of rectangular or round cross section, which wave winding band, inthe forming operation, by a wire guide is laid in alternation around theouter side faces of forming protrusions, offset from one another on thecircumference of two disks which can be driven to rotate axially side byside or in two rows on the circumference of a roller that can be drivento rotate, and in the angular range in which the wave winding band isdriven on the circumference of the disks or roller, the spacing betweenone forming protrusion of one row and the next forming protrusion in theother row is increased by such an amount that the outer side faces ofthe forming protrusions form the winding heads of the wave windings, andthat the wave windings cut from the wave winding band are introducedinto radially outwardly open slots of a rotor or stator laminationpacket or a rotorlike transfer tool.

The invention offers the advantage that in a single integrated operationthe winding wire is continuously brought into the shape of a wave fixedby stops and then, under tension, assumes the final wave form by plasticdeformation. A total of only two very simple forming operations isneeded; that is, besides the aforementioned bending of the wire into thewave winding band, only bending of the wave windings, cut to the properlength from the wave winding band, into a ring with the relatively largeradius of curvature of the annular arrangement of the wave winding inthe lamination packet is necessary.

The apparatus proposed according to the invention for performing thenovel method has a forming device for forming the wave winding band,which forming device has two disks or one roller and two rows of formingprotrusions distributed uniformly over the circumference and offset fromone another relative to the respectively other row and protruding pastthe circumference of the disks or roller, and one wire guide guided insuch a way that a winding wire can be placed in undulating fashion inalternation about the outer side faces of the successive formingprotrusions on the circumference, whose shape corresponds to the shapeto be generated of the winding heads of the wave windings, and a devicefor introducing the wave windings, cut from the wave winding band, intoradially outwardly open slots of a rotor or stator lamination packet orrotorlike transfer tool.

This apparatus offers the advantage that it is fundamentally independentof whatever the wave shape, length and relative position to one anotherthe wave windings to be introduced into the rotor or stator laminationpacket have. It can therefore be used for many different shapes of thewinding. If the wave windings are to be introduced into a rotor orstator lamination packet having radially inwardly open slots, or inother words into an external stator or into the rotor of anexternal-rotor motor or generator, the aforementioned transfer tool isused with one additional work operation, in order for the windingsinitially created in the transfer tool to be positively displaced out ofits slots radially outward into the slots of the external stator orexternal rotor.

Advantageous features of the method and the novel apparatus describedabove are defined in the dependent claims.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in furtherdetail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a wave winding in front of a rod-shapedreceiver and lateral guide rails;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of twelve wave windings, placed in the rod-shapedreceiver of FIG. 1, which are then inserted jointly into a rotor orstator lamination packet or into a rotorlike transfer tool;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a system, comprising a plurality of componentdevices, for forming and introducing wave windings into statorlamination packets;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a device for continuous forming of a wavewinding band with a stamping device connected to it;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the forming device and the stamping device ofFIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A, B, C are side views, from the left in terms of FIG. 4, of thedevice for forming a wave winding band, showing the parts of the devicein various stages during the forming of a wave winding;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the wire guide that forms part of thedevice for forming the wave winding band;

FIG. 8 is a simplified side view of a rotor or stator lamination packetor transfer tool having radially outwardly open slots, in cooperationwith the rod-shaped receiver shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and having guidedevices for transferring the wave windings from the receiver into thelamination packet or into the transfer tool;

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of the rod-shaped receiver and the guidedevices, shown in section, of FIG. 8, with the wave windings located inthe slots of the receiver also being shown for reasons of clarity in thedrawing;

FIG. 10 is a simplified partial cross section through a rotorliketransfer tool, in a concentric position assumed upon the transfer ofwave windings into a stator lamination packet; and

FIG. 11 is a simplified longitudinal section through the transfer toolof FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The wave winding 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a certain number of waves,formed by parallel straight portions 12 and gable-shaped winding heads14, the number corresponding to the number and occupation of the slotsin the rotor or stator lamination packet to be equipped with thesewindings. The connection ends of the wave winding are marked 16. In thisexample, with the wave winding 10 shown, every sixth slot of a statorlamination packet is occupied, and the straight portions 12 extendthrough the stator slots, while the gable- shaped winding heads 14protrude from the stator lamination packet at the face end. Between twostator slots occupied by the wave winding 10, five stator slots remainfree in this exemplary embodiment, and further such wave windings 10 areintroduced into those slots. In all, it is for instance possible forthere to be eight layers—this term being understood here to mean onewire layer in one slot 18—to be present in each of the radially inwardlyopen slots 18, shown as rectangular in cross section in FIG. 10, of astator lamination packet 20. However, this number of layers is merelyone exemplary embodiment. The slots 18 of rectangular cross sectioncould also each be filled with four wire layers of a thicker rectangularwire. Depending on the type of motor or generator and on the selectedwinding, still other numbers of layers may occur, and even two or morewire layers in one slot can be formed by a single, one-piece wavewinding 10. This is the case, for instance, in a so-called distributedwave winding, in which the straight portions are located in two or morelayers in the same stator slots, but looking at one end of one of theseslots, the winding heads of one or more layers extend from that slot inone circumferential direction while the winding heads of the other layeror layers extend in the opposite direction. Another possible way offilling multiple wire layers of one slot with a single wave winding isto use a wave winding of FIG. 1 that is so long that after beingintroduced into the stator lamination packet, it extends several timesaround the circumference thereof.

The advantageousness of the gable-shaped winding heads becomes clear ifone imagines, on the basis of FIG. 1, that in the rod-shaped receiver 22shown there, after the first wave winding 10 shown, a further such wavewinding is placed in those slots that are each located directly to theright of the slots that are occupied by the straight portions 12 of thefirst wave winding 10. The third such wave winding will then in turn beplaced in the next slots to the right, and the same is true for thefourth, fifth and sixth wave winding in turn. At the end, it will beseen that it is always only the left leg of the gable-shaped windingheads 14 that has to be laid across the right legs of the winding headsof the wave windings that were already placed earlier but the right legsthen need not cross any wave windings put in place earlier. It will alsobe seen that all the intersection points defined, where a left leg ispassed over a right leg of a wave winding put in place earlier, eachform the sole intersection at that point. Accordingly, only the crossingleft legs of the winding heads need to be lifted either in entirety orpartly at the points of intersection and then lowered again into theplane of the straight portions, in order to achieve a situation in whichall the straight portions and half of the gable-shaped winding heads ofthe six wave windings placed in succession are located without internalstress in the cylindrical plane of the wire layer in the slots. Theintermittent raising and lowering of half of a gable in order to lay itover one or more gable halves of wave windings put in place earlier canbe accomplished by stamping the wave windings before they are placed inthe rod-shaped receiver 22. It is understood that alternatively, thegable half with a crossing over it can be lowered, or one gable half canbe raised somewhat while the other is lowered somewhat.

It can also be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 that a wave winding of twice thecircumferential length can be folded in the middle and put together sothat two straight portions are located one above the other and thewinding heads are located oppositely. Alternatively, of two identicalwave windings of single circumferential length, one can be inverted andplaced on the other and electrically connected to it at one end. Theresult is once again a distributed wave winding, with two straightportions in each slot and with winding heads directly opposite.

If the wave windings 10 have twice the circumferential length, then uponplacement in the slots of the rod-shaped receiver 22, the procedure canalso be such that first, in the order described above, the six wavewindings that form one wire layer are put in place with only half theirlength. Next, over the second half of the length of the rod-shapedreceiver 22, the order is reversed, so that the winding wire placed lastwith its first half is placed first into the second half of the receiver22; the next-to-last wave winding is placed second, and so forth. As aresult, in the winding heads of the second wire layer in the stator, thewire intersections are located on the other gable half.

Besides such convolutions, electrical connections and alternations inthe order, the further possibility exists upon placement of the wavewindings in the slots of the receiver 22 of bending open individualwaves of an already-placed wave winding and bending them back again,after the placement of one or more further wave windings, into the slotsof the receiver 22; as a result, at a defined point, a variation in theorder of wave windings located one above the other is attained.

FIG. 2 illustrates the very uniform arrangement of the winding heads ofa multilayer winding.

FIG. 3 in plan view shows an overview over one complete productionsystem for winding and introducing wave windings into stator laminationpackets. Reference numerals 24 and 24′ designate two parallel-operatingforming devices, in each of which a winding wire, drawn from a supplyroller 26 and 26′, respectively, is formed continuously into a wavewinding band, from which the wave windings shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 areobtained in the form of segments. Reference numerals 28 and 28′ indicatea respective stamping station, respectively, in FIG. 3, in which thewinding heads of the wave windings are formed by male and female dies insuch a way that they can cross each other in different planes whiletheir straight portions lie in the same cylindrical plane. Also in thisstation, the wave windings 10 can be cut to whatever length is requiredfrom the continuously produced wave winding band, and the connectionends 16 can be pulled out.

In the next parallel-operating stations, identified by referencenumerals 30 and 30′, respectively, the wave windings 10 are placed inthe intended order and arrangement into the slots of the rod-shapedreceiver 22, specifically with as many wire layers in each slot as areplaced jointly in a single work step into the slots of a rotor or statorlamination packet or a rotorlike transfer tool. In FIG. 3, a conveyorsystem with pallets is provided, each pallet carrying one rod-shapedreceiver 22 with slots. Once a receiver 22 of FIG. 2 has been loadedwith wave windings, the corresponding pallet 32 and 32′ moves into thetransfer station shown at 34, and a further pallet 36 and 36′ moves,carrying an empty rod-shaped receiver 22, after it into the loadingstation 30 and 30′.

In the transfer station 34, the wave windings are transferred from arod-shaped receiver 22 first, in this example, to a rotorlike transfertool having radially outwardly open slots. For details, see thedescription hereinafter of FIGS. 8 and 9. The filled transfer tool isthen moved by a turntable 40 to an insertion station 38, in which therotorlike transfer tool is introduced into the bore of a statorlamination packet in such a way that its radially inwardly open slotsare aligned with the slots of the transfer tool, so that radiallymovable slides can slide the wave windings out of the transfer toolradially into the slots of the stator lamination packet. After that, theturntable 40 transfers the stator lamination packet into a compressionstation 42, in which the first group of wave windings put in place inthe stator slots are pushed or pulled still farther radially outward,and the winding heads are compressed. Next, a completely wound statorlamination packet is conveyed by the turntable 40 to a discharge station44 and removed there or discharged. If still a second or further groupof wave windings is to be received in the stator lamination packet, thenthe partly wound stator lamination packet is returned to the insertionstation 38 again and equipped with the second or further group of wavewindings. This is then followed by a compression operation in thecompression station 42, before the stator lamination packet is removedin the discharge station.

It may be expedient for the wave windings produced in the forming device24′ to be formed with somewhat narrower winding heads than in theforming device 24, and in the transfer station 34 and insertion station38 for first one group of wave windings from the forming device 24 andthen one group of wave windings from the forming device 24′ to beintroduced in alternation into the stator lamination packet by means ofsuitable transfer tools. With the winding heads of different widths, thedifferent radii of the wave windings after their introduction into thestator lamination packet can be taken appropriately into account.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6A, B, C show the forming device 24 in more detail, andFIGS. 4 and 5 also show the stamping device 28. The primary componentsof the forming device 24 are two continuously revolving disks 46, 48,located axially side by side, each having forming protrusions 50extending beyond the circumferential surface. In the continuous creationof a wave winding band 52, the disks 46, 48 cooperate with a wire guide54, which is supported immediately next to the circumference of thedisks 46, 48, rotating incrementally about a horizontal axis. Theforming of the winding wire, delivered from the supply 26, to form thewave winding band 52 can be best understood from the simplifiedschematic illustration in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C.

At the beginning of the continuous forming operation, the beginning ofthe winding wire, marked 56, as shown in FIG. 6A is temporarily clampedor otherwise retained on a forming protrusion 50 of the left disk 46 andplaced as a loop around the next forming protrusion 50, following it inthe circumferential direction, of the right disk 48. If the wire guide54, which comprises a rotatably supported carrier 55, for instance inthe form of a disk or a bar, and diametrically opposed looping pegs 58,60 mounted near the outer circumference and protruding axially towardthe disks 46, 48, subsequently begins to rotate as indicated by thedirectional arrow 62, then in the example of FIG. 6A the looping peg 58strikes the winding wire 56 arriving from the supply 26 and begins toform a loop on its circumference. At the same time, the looping peg 58also guides the winding wire around one forming protrusion 50 of theleft disk 46, on whose circumferential surface it is retained by atappet 64, which is disposed centrally on the carrier 55 or extendsnonrotatably through the carrier 55 and is thrust forward axiallyagainst the forming protrusion. The tappet is preferably embodied with aretaining lug 66 on its free end, which lug pushes the wire far enoughonto the forming protrusion 50. Thus in the phase shown in FIG. 6A, aloop is simultaneously formed both on the aforementioned formingprotrusion 50 of the disk 46 and on the looping peg 58. Upon furtherrotary motion of the wire guide 54 in the direction of the directionalarrow 62 and with simultaneous rotation of the disks 46 and 48 in thedirection of the directional arrow 68, the wrap angles of the two loopsincrease, as the intermediate stage shown in FIG. 6B illustrates. Inthat stage, the looping pegs 58 and 60 are approximately vertically oneabove the other in front of the disk 46. The tappet 64 has beenretracted from the disk 46, because in the meantime the wire loop on theprotrusion 50 of the disk 46, rotated some distance onward, holds byitself.

In the phase of FIG. 6B, to prevent the winding wire 56 from strikingthe next forming protrusion 50 of the disk 46 that follows the formingprotrusion 50 that forms the loop, a guide baffle 70 shown in FIG. 4 isprovided, which guides the winding wire 56 past the next formingprotrusion 50.

Once the wire guide 54 has been rotated onward and has reached theposition of FIG. 6C, a forming protrusion 50 of the disk 48 is locatedaxially immediately in front of the looping peg 58. The rotary motion ofthe wire guide 54 is briefly interrupted, and a stripper 72, shown inFIGS. 4 and 7, strips the wire loop seated on the looping peg 58 axiallyfrom it and over onto the forming protrusion 50 located in front of it.Simultaneously or immediately afterward, the tappet 64 moves axiallyforward again and pushes the wire 56 over, that is downstream in termsof the direction of motion of the forming protrusion 50 of the disk 46past which it has just beforehand been moved by the guide baffle 70, sothat this forming protrusion now forms the next loop.

After this, the above-described events are repeated, if with continuedrotation the looping peg 60 reaches the position in which the loopingpeg 58 is located in FIG. 6A. As shown in the drawings, the formingprotrusions 50 on the two disks 46 and 48 are offset with a formingprotrusion on one disk facing a gap between forming protrusions on theother; the intermediate spacing measured at the circumference betweenone forming protrusion 50 on one disk and the immediately followingforming protrusion 50 on the other disk is approximately equal to thediameter of the winding wire 56. Since the continuous rotary motion ofthe disks 46 and 48 is adapted to the uninterrupted rotary motion of thewire guide 54 in such a way that a wire loop is transferred successivelyto each forming protrusion 50 of both disks 46, 48, the overall resultis the uninterrupted wave winding band 52.

To obtain a rotary motion with brief interruptions for the wire guide 54in the particular phase in which wire loops are stripped from thelooping pegs 58, 60 onto the forming protrusions 50 of the disk 48, asuitable indexing mechanism, for instance in the form of a Maltese-crossdrive mechanism, can be used.

The drawing off of wire from the wire supply 26 includes a wire brake.The winding wire 56 is therefore under tensile stress during theformation of loops around the forming protrusions 50, and as the wireloops are being deposited onto the forming protrusions 50, a certainforming into waves or zigzag shape takes place. The tensile stress inthe winding wire would normally, however, not suffice to form thegable-shaped winding heads 14 exactly with their angles and straightintermediate segments, even if the forming protrusions 50 have a crosssection corresponding to the form of the winding heads 14. To achievethe desired form of the winding heads 14, it is therefore provided thatthe distance between the co-operating forming protrusions 50 of bothcircumferential rows on the disks 46, 48, in the circumferential regionin which the wave winding band 52 is transported from the loop-formingpoint to the point where it is paid out from the disks 46, 48, is firstincreased by a certain amount that suffices to achieve a relatively hightensile stress required for the shaping of the winding wire and thenreduced again.

If the forming protrusions 50 are mounted, axially controllablydisplaceably, on a wide roller with the intended intermediate spacing,the roller can simultaneously rotate about a straight axis. Conversely,if instead of a wide roller two disks 46, 48 are used, then the formingprotrusions 50 need not execute a relative axial motion, because then itsuffices for the disks 46, 48 to be supported such that during therotary motion the spacing between two obliquely opposed formingprotrusions that carry the wave winding band is first increased and thenreduced again. In the simplest case, for this purpose, the axes ofrotation of the two disks 46, 48 can be inclined, dropping off laterallytoward the outside. The spacing between the two disks 46, 48 and thusbetween the obliquely opposed forming protrusions 50 is then greatest atthe top and least at the bottom, and at the point of loop formation isapproximately the same size as at the point where the wave winding band52 is paid out from the disks 46, 48. Along the way from theloop-forming point to the payout point, the intermediate spacing betweenthe forming protrusions 50 therefore increases, as desired, and thenbecomes less again. It is understood that still other supports for thedisks 46, 48 that generate a tumbling motion of the disks with theaforementioned effect could be selected.

Finally, it should be noted that for creating gable-shaped winding heads14, it is not necessary to use forming protrusions 50 with a matchingcross-sectional shape. The latter could instead be replaced by threepins each, for instance, which are seated at those points where thelaterally outermost corners of the forming protrusions 50 are located.Producing the pins is more economical than producing the formingprotrusions 50.

It is understood that instead of the gable-shaped cross section, theforming protrusions 50 can have some other shape suitable for windingheads instead. The same is correspondingly true for the arrangement ofthe pins alternatively used.

At the point on the circumference of the disks 46, 48 that in thisexample is approximately opposite the loop-forming point, a deflectionbaffle disposed in the interstice between the disks 46, 48 can assurethat the wave winding band 52 will detach reliably from the formingprotrusions 50 and initially will form a freely suspended loop 74,before the wave winding band 52 is grasped by drivers 78 on a conveyorbelt 76 which can be driven to revolve endlessly and conveyes the wavewinding band 52 to the stamping device 28. The freely suspended loop 74fluctuates in its length during operation and forms a buffer store,which compensates for the uneven draw-off speed, resulting from timeswhen the conveyor belt 76 is not moving, in comparison to the uniformfeeding speed of the disks 46, 48. The loop 74 can optionally besupported by a flexible guide 80 that is resiliently yielding whenloaded with weight, to prevent excessive lengthening of the wave windingband 52 from its own weight.

The stamping station 28 has the function of deforming the winding heads14 perpendicular to the plane of the wave winding band 52 in such a waythat the winding heads, which overlap in the mounted state in the statorlamination packet, do not hinder one another, and the wave windings 10of the same wire layer, for instance the radially outermost wire layer,can be placed in the stator slots in their appropriate position with asmuch freedom from tension as possible, so that the intersecting windingheads need not be pressed against one another in the insertion processto such an extent that they deform and allow the straight portions ofthe wave windings 10 to assume their intended position in the statorslots.

Depending on the intended object, the male dies 82 and female dies 84are dimensioned and shaped such that in each stamping operation one ormore winding heads 14, in their entirety or in part, can be forced outupward or downward relative to the primary plane of the wave windingband 52. In this way, with a sufficient number of dies, all the windingheads 14 of one wave winding 10 can be simultaneously formed with asingle stroke. Alternatively, the possibility exists of forming thewinding heads 14 of a wave winding 10 in multiple strokes using fewerdies 82, 84. Normally, the conveyor belt 76 will be stopped during theshaping, and in that period of time the disks 46, 48 feed the wavewinding band 52 created into the loose loop 74 acting as a buffer store.If a high production capacity is desired, then the male dies 82 andfemale dies 84, in conjunction with a longer conveyor belt 76, can alsobe operated in flying fashion, so that during the shaping operation,they are moved parallel to the conveyor belt 76 at the speed of thatbelt. In such a mode of operation, the freely suspended loop 74 is notneeded.

Besides the dies 82, 84, cutting tools not shown are also mounted in thestamping device 28; they sever the wave winding band 52 at predeterminedpoints in order to obtain wave windings 10 of a certain length. The wireends of the cut-off wave windings are drawn out by grippers, not shown,to the connecting ends 16 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The straight portions12 can also be converted from wave windings made of round wire into arectangular cross section in the stamping device 28 or in a furtherforming station.

The stamping device 28 is optionally also adjoined by a further workstation, in which by machine or by hand a long wave winding 10 is foldedback onto itself in such a way that a distributed wave winding of halfthe length is created. Alternatively, two wave windings 10 can be placedone over the other to form a distributed wave winding and electricallyconnected to one another at one end. The possibility also exists ofintersecting one or more wave windings, which are intended to be locatedside by side in different slots, at certain points in such a way thatover a portion of its length, one wave winding is located under anotherwave winding, but over another portion of its length it is located aboveit.

In the next work step, the wave windings 10 formed as described aboveare placed in the loading station marked 30 in FIG. 3 in the transverseslots of the rod-shaped or toothed-rack-shaped receiver 20 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 and also in FIGS. 8 and 9. To that end, an endlessconveyor belt of the type of the conveyor belt 76 successively carries aplurality of wave windings 10, whose winding heads 14 are guided in theguide rails 86 shown in FIG. 1, into the respective predeterminedposition above or below certain transverse slots of the rod-shapedreceiver 22. Then the wave windings 10 are introduced into thetransverse slots of the rodlike receiver 22 by raising or lowering theguide rails 86 or alternatively by raising or lowering the rod-shapedreceiver. It is understood that the possibility also exists ofintroducing the wave windings 10 into the slots of the rod-shapedreceiver 22 from above and then inverting them along with the wavewindings in place, in order to bring them to the position shown in FIG.8.

In FIG. 8 the transfer of the wave windings from the rod-shaped receiverinto a rotor magazine or rotorlike transfer tool 88 with radiallyoutwardly open slots 89 is shown. This process takes place in thetransfer station, shown at 34 in FIG. 3. A rotor or stator laminationpacket with radially outwardly open slots could be present there,instead of the transfer tool 88.

In FIG. 8, for the operation of transfer, the rod-shaped receiver 22 isoriented tangentially relative to the rotorlike transfer tool 88, or toa rotor or stator lamination packet located at its position; the slotsof the rod-shaped receiver 22 and the slots 89 of the transfer tool 88face one another with their openings. In addition, the spacing of theslots and the relative motion of the receiver 22 and the transfer tool88 are adapted to one another in such a way that at the tangential pointof contact, the two opposed slots are aligned with one another. In theexemplary embodiment of FIG. 8, during the transfer operation, thetransfer tool 88 executes a rotary motion counterclockwise about astationary axis, while simultaneously the rod-shaped receiver 22 isdisplaced rectilinearly from right to left along a linear guide, notshown, at the circumferential speed of the transfer tool 88. While thesecoordinated motions are taking place, two guide devices 90, 92 that areU-shaped in plan view, in the region of the tangential point of contactand the region behind it in the direction of motion, press the wavewindings 10, which until then may optionally be retained by guide railscorresponding to the guide rails 86 in the slots of the receiver 22, outof the slots of the receiver 22, into the respective opposed slots ofthe transfer tool 88. Since the rod-shaped receiver 22 of FIGS. 1, 2 and9 is narrower than the length of the straight portions 12 of the wavewindings 10, the U-shaped guide devices 90, 92 on both sides next to therod-shaped receiver 22 can engage the outer regions of the straightportions 12 and the winding heads 14, in order to positively displacethe straight portions successively out of the slots of the receiver 22and push them into the slots of the transfer tool 88.

Instead of the two guide devices 90, 92, a single, larger guide devicecould also be used. Alternatively, it would be possible to providemachine-actuatable tappets or slides, which with one or two strokes eachpush the straight portions, retained in a slot of the receiver 22, intothe opposite slot of the transfer tool 88.

The tangential disposition, shown in FIG. 8, of a rectilinearlyrod-shaped receiver 22 relative to the rotorlike transfer tool 88 makesdo with very simple motion drive mechanisms for the transfer operation.If one is willing to dispense with that, then it is also possibleaccording to the invention to use a rod-shaped receiver 22 that iscurved upward or downward in terms of FIG. 8 by a certain radius,because then as well, at the point of contact of the transfer tool 88,there is an essentially tangential orientation and relative motion. Inall cases, while the respectively other part is fixed, either thetransfer tool 88 or the rod-shaped receiver 22 can be guided in acombined motion such that a relative rolling motion that permits thetransfer of the wave windings comes about.

How many wave windings will be transferred in one operation from therod-shaped receiver 22 onto the transfer tool 88 and from the transfertool onto a rotor or stator lamination packet with radially inwardlyopen slots depends on the individual case. Normally, two transferoperations will usually suffice.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a partial cross section through the rotor magazineor transfer tool 88 on a larger scale and a longitudinal section throughit during the radial insertion of the wave windings 10 into the radiallyinwardly open slots 18 of a stator lamination packet 20. For thistransfer operation, the stator lamination packet 20 is placed in thatrotary position axially onto the transfer tool 88, or the transfer toolis inserted into the bore of the stator 20, in such a way that theradially inwardly open slots 18 are aligned with the radially outwardlyopen slots of the transfer tool 88. Then the wave windings seated in theslots of the transfer tool are positively displaced relatively outward,by lamination-like slides 94 seated in the same slots, into the slots 18of the stator lamination packet 20. FIG. 10 by way of example showsthree slots 18 into which four wire layers of wave windings have alreadybeen inserted in an earlier transfer operation, while four further wirelayers of wave windings are still seated in the corresponding slot 89 ofthe transfer tool 88 and must be displaced in the next transferoperation radially outward into the aligned stator slot by theassociated slide 94. Other stator slots, of rectangular cross section,have already been completely filled by eight wire layers of wavewindings of suitable cross section.

There are various possible ways of radially extending and retracting theslides 94 by means of power cylinders or worm drives. One simpleexemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 11. It has lamination-like slides94, which are guided radially displaceably but axially fixed in theradially outwardly open slots of the transfer tool 88. To move themradially, a power cylinder or other drive mechanism displaces a centraldrive rod 96, on which conical or wedge-shaped disks 98 are fixedlymounted, whose front and rear parallel wedge-shaped faces, extendingobliquely to the longitudinal axis, engage correspondingly obliquelydisposed recesses in the lamination-like slides 94. Thus a motion of thedrive rod 96 upward in terms of FIG. 11 causes the slides 94 to beradially spread apart and as a result causes the positive displacementof the wave windings, seated in the slots 89 of the transfer tool 88,into the stator slots 18. By retraction of the drive rod 96 downward,after the transfer operation, the slides 94 are drawn radially inwardagain.

As an alternative to the disks 46, 48, disks of infinitely greatdiameter corresponding to rods, with forming protrusions 50 mounted onthem, or analogously to the aforementioned roller, one rod with two rowsof transversely displaceable forming protrusions in cooperation with awire guide 54, could form the forming device for bandlike wave windings10. In that embodiment, all the other elements and provisions describedabove can be retained unchanged or adopted appropriately.

1. An apparatus having a forming device for forming a wave winding band and a device for introducing wave windings cut from this band into radially outwardly open slots of a cylinder member which is one of a rotor or stator lamination packet or a similar transfer tool, characterized in that the forming device for the wave winding band has a rotatable device which is one of two rotatable disks or one rotatable roller and two rows of forming protrusions distributed uniformly over the circumference of the rotatable device and offset from one another relative to the respectively other row and protruding past the circumference of the rotatable device, and a wire guide guided in such a way that a winding wire can be placed in undulating fashion in alternation about outer side faces of the successive forming protrusions on the circumference, the outer side faces having a shape which corresponds to a shape to be generated of winding heads of the wave windings.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that a free spacing measured at the circumference between one forming protrusion of one row and the next forming protrusion in the other row is equivalent to the thickness of the winding wire.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that in plan view on the circumference of the rotatable device, the outer side faces, pointing away from one another, of the forming protrusions each have the shape of a gable.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that, along the circumferential length traversed by a wave winding on the rotatable device, the axial spacing between one forming protrusion of one row and the next forming protrusion of the other row can initially be increased and then reduced.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, characterized in that each row of forming protrusions is mounted on a disk that is supported individually in tumbling or oblique fashion such that the spacing between the two rows along the circumferential length traversed by the wave winding is initially increased and then reduced, and as a result of the increase in spacing, the winding wire, drawn tautly against gable-shaped outer side faces of the forming protrusions, is formable with corresponding gable-shaped winding heads.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that the wire guide is a carrier driven to rotate about an axis of rotation located essentially transversely to the axis of rotation of the rotatable device and has at least one eccentric looping peg and one tappet that can be axially advanced in controlled fashion and is disposed essentially on the axis of rotation, the carrier having the at least one looping peg immediately next to the rotatable device revolves in chronological adaptation to the rotary motion thereof, in a first intermediate phase of a work cycle, the tappet can be advanced to the winding wire, delivered into the space between the carrier and the rotatable device, and to a forming protrusion of one row, so that the winding wire is retained on this forming protrusion to form a first loop, and in a second intermediate phase, in which a forming protrusion of the other row is located axially in front of the at least one looping peg, a stripper can be actuated by which a second loop formed from the winding wire on the at least one looping peg can be stripped from the at least one looping peg onto the forming protrusion located in front of the at least one looping peg.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, characterized in that the carrier revolves in the direction of rotation in which the at least one looping peg, moved with a circumferential surface against the winding wire, forms the first loop around a forming protrusion of one row and simultaneously forms the second loop around the at least one looping peg.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, characterized in that the carrier of the at least one looping peg revolves discontinuously.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, characterized in that, for varying the height of the wave windings to suit different lamination packet heights, the maximum axial spacing between the two rows of forming protrusions and the eccentricity of the at least one looping peg on the carrier are variably adjustable.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that a stamping device is disposed between the forming device and a loading station for placing the wave windings in rod-shaped receivers, which stamping device has (a) a conveyor means adapted to convey the wave winding with drivers mounted on an outside thereof at a spacing of adjacent straight portions of the wave windings, and (b) one or more male dies and female dies laterally beside the conveyor means, by which said dies at least part of one winding head of a wave winding to be placed in the receiver can be forced out of the plane of the adjacent straight portions.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, characterized in that the stamping device has cutting tools for cutting the wave windings to a proper length from the wave winding band.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, characterized in that, between the forming device and the stamping device, there is a loose guide for the formed wave winding band, so that by use of this band a loop of variable length serving as a buffer store can be formed.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, characterized in that the loading station for placing the wave windings in rod-shaped receivers has movably supported guide rails extending parallel to one another and to the receiver and extending in projection at the sides of the receiver, which said rails guide the winding heads of the wave windings, an endlessly revolvingly guided conveyor belt which can be controlled with precise positioning, said drivers provided on an outside thereof with a same spacing as the straight portions, and a positioning drive mechanism for moving the guide rails out of a position in front of slot entrances provided in the rod-shaped receiver into a position at the sides of the slot entrances, whereby the straight portions of the wave windings are introduced into slots of the receiver.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that the device for introducing the wave windings into the cylinder member has a guide for the wave windings which is disposed essentially tangentially relative to the cylinder member having radially outwardly open slots and that can be driven to rotate by a rotary mechanism, a drive for relative advancement of the wave windings having straight portions joined by the winding heads and/or of the cylinder member along the guide at a speed corresponding to the circumferential speed of the cylinder member, and guide or thrust devices by which the straight portions, brought to the cylinder member, of the wave windings can be introduced in succession into the radially outwardly open slots.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, characterized in that the guide has a longitudinally movable rod-shaped receiver with parallel transverse slots, into which said receiver a plurality of wave windings, to be introduced jointly into the cylinder member in one work step, can be placed with the straight portions thereof in predetermined transverse slots.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, characterized by stationary guide devices engaging the outer regions of the straight portions and/or the winding heads of the wave windings, by which said guide devices the straight portions can be positively displaced into the radially outwardly open slots of the cylinder member while the cylinder member rotates about a stationary axis and in the process rolls along the rod-shaped receiver that is moved past the cylinder member at a tangent or along a line parallel to the cylinder member.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, characterized in that where the cylinder member is a rotorlike transfer tool, in the radially outwardly open slots thereof there are radially displaceably guided slides which can be moved to beyond the outer circumference and by which the wave windings received in the radially outwardly open slots can be positively displaced into aligned, radially inwardly open slots of a rotor or stator lamination packet disposed concentrically to the transfer.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, characterized in that the axially fixed slides are provided with wedge-shaped faces and are movable radially by corresponding wedge-shaped or conical faces of a common, axially movable drive member. 